AcademicsTechnology

Technology

﻿Our faculty and students use technology at all grade levels as tools to enhance learning.

Every sixth through 12th grade student has a MacBook Air laptop for use in the classroom and at home. Like textbooks, the cost of the laptops are included in tuition. (Read more about the laptop 1:1 program, below.)

Lower School teachers can bring a mobile iPad cart into their classroom when needed.

At both the Lower and Upper/Middle School campuses, classrooms are equipped with interactive projectors and white boards so teachers visually can instruct the entire class at one time. Both campuses also have wireless Internet.

USJ also is a leader in using technology to provide information and convenience for our parents and students. Grades, homework and other information are accessed on the Internet. Students can buy lunch and breakfast in the cafeteria with school-issued debit cards.

Our website is an important communications tool. Each teacher has his or her own website. You can also follow all campuses on Facebook and Twitter.

Students in Middle and Upper School receive a MacBook Air

With the start of the 2014-2015 school year, every USJ student in grades six through 12 has a MacBook Air laptop as part of the school’s new 1:1 program.

Students can take the computer home each day and also use it during the summer. The cost is included in tuition, and after three years, students will be issued a new laptop.

The 1:1 laptop program prepares students for the 21st Century and enhances learning. It also helps to prepare students for college and beyond.

The 13-inch MacBook Airs feature 128 gigabytes of flash storage with 4 gigabytes of onboard memory. The battery life is 12 hours, which is more than enough to get students through the school day.

Laptops will be covered for the first two incidences of damage, but parents will be responsible for repairing or replacing the laptop on the third incident. Parents also will be responsible for replacing the laptop if it is lost.

Technology instruction begins in Kindergarten

Students begin learning keyboarding and about the Internet in Lower School; computer classes begin in first grade. The Kindergarteners also are introduced to the computer; they come to the lab once a week for six weeks and practice using the mouse, typing their name, and are introduced to the parts of the computer. Students in grades one through five learn about the parts of a computer, the history of computers, and Internet safety. They work with Microsoft Word and Excel in all grades, learning about formatting font, setting up documents, typing reports, and formatting graphs.

By the time they finish Middle School, they are very familiar with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and the ability to do PowerPoint presentations for school assignments. Computer learning is enhanced in Upper School where students can brush up on rusty skills, but also learn how to do computer programming.